Paula Myrick Short, Ph.D.

Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Houston System
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Houston

Paula Myrick Short is the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the University of Houston System, and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of Houston.

Since her appointment in June 2013, she has established the UH Graduate School, the Cougar Chairs Leadership Academy for Department Chairs, the Foundations of Excellence initiative, Houston GPS as well as implemented student success initiatives such as UH in 4 and Provost Summer Read.

Provost Short came to the University of Houston July 2012 as Distinguished Professor and Founding Director of the Institute for Policy, Research, and Evaluation.

In her role as Senior Vice Chancellor for the University of Houston System, Dr. Short is responsible for the academic quality and accreditation of all four UH system insitutions: UH, UH – Downtown, UH – Clear Lake, and UH – Victoria.

As Senior Vice President and Provost of the University of Houston, Dr. Short is responsible for faculty development, strategic enrollment planning, undergraduate student success, education innovation and technology, global strategies and partnerships, as well as two key University initiatives, UH Energy and UH Health, and development of a third priority, the UH College of the Arts. As Provost, the Deans Council of the 13 UH Colleges and the UH Libraries report to her.

Additionally, Dr. Short is the Director of the Center for ADVANCING UH Faculty Success, funded by a $3.3 million grant from by the National Science Foundation. Under Dr. Short’s leadership, the Center will address gender equity and diversity issues related to moving more women forward with careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Prior to joining UH, Dr. Short served 12 years as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the Tennessee Board of Regents, the sixth-largest governing board system of higher education in the United States, annually serving more than 200,000 students. Dr. Short has served as a tenured faculty member at Auburn University, The Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Missouri – Columbia.

Dr. Short is credited with developing the only empirically-derived measure of organizational empowerment, which has been used in over 500 research studies and translated into 11 languages. She has published more than 105 scholarly articles, 14 books, dozens of book chapters, monographs, and technical reports. Dr. Short has received more than $2.5 million in Federal grants and foundation funding and has chaired committees for 23 doctoral students to degree completion.

In 2013, Provost Short was honored with the Master Professor Award by the University Council for Educational Administration recognizing her record of promoting educational innovation in the classroom and extending educational opportunities to an ever-widening group of students. In 2009, she was recipient of the Paul A. Elsner International Excellence in Leadership Award in recognition of her multiple accomplishments in improving higher education. She also received the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Regional Council on Educational Administration. A nationally recognized scholar and researcher in the field of administration, Dr. Short was chosen as the recipient of the 1993 Jack A. Culbertson Award, given by the University Council for Educational Administration, for research contributions to the field of administration. In 2014, Dr. Short was named to the prestigious list “Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women” by Houston Woman Magazine.

Dr. Short received her Ph.D. in Administration in the Department of Organizational Development and Institutional Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.